Collapsible aquarium

ABSTRACT

An aquarium of the type having a base and four sides wherein each of the four sides is hingedly secured to the base, and in water-tight relation with the base, and further wherein each side is in water-tight relation with the two sides adjacent to it.

[151 3,658,035 [4 1 Apr.25,1972

United States Patent Harris 2,811,275 10/1957 Draper................3,244,145 4/1966 8 r. c r

N mm Am W .m A m n LH Bk n SJ P n m mm Cl N121 UHBraunhut...............

[73] Assignee:

Samuel Rosenberg, County of Kings, NY. a part interest Feb. 6, 1970Primary Examiner-Hugh R. Chamblee Attorney-Sheldon Palmer [22] Filed:

ABSTRACT An aquarium of the type having a base and four sides whereinAppl. No.:

5 Aolk 64/40 each of the four sides is hingedly secured to the base, andin 119 5 3; 22 7 water-tight relation with the base, and further whereineach side is in water-tight relation with the two sides adjacent to it.

[52] U.S.Cl........ [51] Int. [58] Field of Search References CitedUNITED STATES PATENTS 16 Claims, 16 Drawing Figures 2,763,239 9/1956Rendall......................................l19(5 PATEWEB R 2 5 I972SHEET 3 OF 1 I. I 7 0R. JACK HARRIS PMENTED APR 25 1972 COLLAPSIBLEAQUARIUM BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention Theinvention relates to aquaria, and more particularly to an aquarium whichis stored and shipped in a folded, or collapsed position and which isopened to an upright position when ready for use.

2. Prior Art There are known water-tight aquaria. However, there has notheretofore been known any aquarium which is collapsible for storage andshipping and which at the same time is completely water-tight when inits open, or upright position.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has for a principalobject the provision of a foldable, collapsible, water-tight aquarium.Under present conditions all aquaria are fabricated in their finishedstate, that is, upright, fixed and ready for use. When storing orshipping these aquaria from their point of manufacture to their point ofsale, very large volumes of valuable space are wasted and the incidenceof breakage of the glass used in the aquaria is very great. It would bevery desirable for the manufacturer, the shipper and the retailer ofaquaria to have a collapsible aquarium since such an aquarium would bereadily transportable and storable at a tremendous saving in space andcost.

With this, and other objects in mind, I have now provided the solutionto the above problems. In completing this invention, there have beensolved several problems, chief among which are the problem of providingat the same time, and in a practicable and efficient manner, a hingedwater-tight seal between the upright sides of an aquarium and the basethereof and also between adjacent sides thereof.

In accordance with the invention, there is provided an aquariumcomprising a base and four sides, each of said sides being hingedlysecured to the base with a water-tight seal means between each side andthe base. Additionally, there is provided a water-tight seal meansbetween each side and the two sides adjacent thereto. In the preferredembodiment of the invention, the means by which the sides are hingedlysecured to the base is a hinge having respective face plates fixed tothe base and the side; and the water-tight seal means is a sheet offlexible material connected to both the base and the side. Preferablythe flexible material is polyethylene since this is an inexpensivematerial which is easy to work with and is generally transparent.However, any flexible, water-proof material may be substituted, and infact it may in some cases be desirable to use a colored flexiblematerial for esthetic purposes. The cement to be used for cementing theflexible material must of course be waterproof and it must be capable ofbonding the flexible material to glass, metal and slate. The masticwhich is conventionally used in aquaria is sufficient to bond theflexible material and is the preferred cement for use in the presentinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In the drawing which shows the detailedconstruction and manner of opening the collapsed aquarium;

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the fully opened aquarium ready for use;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the aquarium partly opened with thefront and back in the upright position and the two sides partly upright;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the aquarium partly opened, with theback in the upright position, the front partly upright and the two sidesin the collapsed position;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the aquarium in its fully collapsedposition;

FIG. 5 is a section through line 55 of FIG. 1 showing the side at thehinge with the side in the upright position;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the side shown in FIGS with the side in thecollapsed position (with the side down);

FIG. 7 is a section through line 7--7 of FIG. 6 showing the side down;

FIG. 8 is a plan section through a comer of the aquarium with a side andthe back (or front) in the upright position. This view is through line8-8 of FIG. 9;

FIG. 9 is a section through line 9-9 of FIG. 8 of the side near thecorner;

FIG. 10 is a section through the front (or back) at the hinge;

FIG. 1 1 is an elevation through line 11-11 of FIG. 10 at the hinge;

FIG. 12 is a section through the front (or back) near the comer;

FIG. 13 is a plan view of a corner with the sides in the uprightposition with the corner clip of FIG. 16 in place;

FIG. 14 is an'elevation section through line 14-14 of FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is the layout of the corner clip of FIG. 16 before it is formedinto shape; and

FIG. 16 is the comer clip assembly ready for mounting at a corner of theupright aquarium.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION There will now be described indetail, the construction and operation of the aquarium of the presentinvention given in conjunction with the appended drawing in which likeparts shown in the several figures of the drawing are assigned the samereference numeral.

In the aquarium, there are as shown in FIGS. 1-4, four sides constitutedby two pairs of sides. One pair of sides 10 is longer than the otherpair of sides 11; the longer pair being hereinafter called front andback 10 while the shorter sides are called simply sides 11.

Each of the four sides 10 and 11 has the same construction and this willnow be described. Each side comprises a rectangular sheet of glass 12having four U-shaped frame members 13 cemented to each of its four edgesby means of a conventional water-proof aquarium mastic 14 (FIG. 5). Eachof the U-shaped frame members 13 is slightly shorter than the edge towhich it is cemented as clearly shown in FIG. 3. The U- shaped framemembers are made, for example, of stainless steel or some otherconvenient material which can be readily formed into the desired shape.

Each of the four sides 10 and 11 is secured to a base 15 made of slate.The front and back 10 are secured to the base 15 in a slightly differentmanner than are sides 11 and there will now be described the manner inwhich front and back 10 and sides 11 are so secured.

In FIG. 5, glass 12 cemented to U-shaped frame member 13 by mastic 14comprises a side 11. On the inner surface of side 11, running forsubstantially the entire length of the side there is provided arectangular sheet of flexible material 16 which is preferablypolyethylene. One edge of this flexible material 16 is cemented betweenglass 12 and U-shaped frame member 13 by means of the same mastic 14which bonds glass 12 to U- shaped frame member 13. A hinge 17 comprisingplates 18 and 19 rotatable about a pin 20 is used to secure side 11 tobase 15. The hinge is as wide as the combined width of glass 12 andU-shaped frame member 13. Plate 18 of hinge 17 is spot welded orotherwise fixed to the short side 21 of U- shaped frame member 13. Plate19 of hinge 17 is secured to base 15 by means of screw 22 which passesthrough a hole in plate 19 and is threaded into steel plug 23 which isset into base 15. The steel plug 23 or its equivalent is necessary sincea screw cannot be threaded into slate without splitting or cracking theslate. Before plate 19 is screwed into base 15, the other edge offlexible material 16 is passed under plate 19 and screw 22 passesthrough flexible material 16. Thus, rectangular sheet of flexiblematerial 16 must be as long as the side to which it is cemented and wideenough to sit in U-shaped frame member 13, extend along the outersurface thereof and pass completely under plate 19. When all four sides10 and 11 have been secured to base 15, the entire assembly of the baseand four sides is cemented into base frame 24 by mastic 14; thus as seenin FIG. 5, the side 11 is hingedly secured to base 15 between theupright position shown in FIG. 1 and the collapsed position shown inFIGS. 3 and 4. At the same time, there exists a water-tight'seal betweenside 11 and base 15 provided by flexible material 16 and mastic 14. FIG.7 shows the same portion of the aquarium when side 11 is down orcollapsed.

Preferably, there will be two hinge assemblies on side 11 to provide amore sturdy connection between side 11 and base 15. There has beendescribed above, the construction of one side 11. Clearly, the oppositeside 11 is secured to base 15 in the same manner since both sides 11open and close in an identical manner.

There will now be described the manner in which front 10 is secured tobase 15.

In FIG. 10, the portion shown in phantom section A is the side 11 (incollapsed position) whichis at right angles to front 10 which is aboutto be described. The portion shown in phantom section B is front 10 whenit is in its collapsed position atop side 11. This is seen in FIG. 3where front 10 is partially collapsed and in FIG. 4 where both front 10and back 10 are in the fully collapsed position.

It is clear from FIG. 10 that the construction of front 10 is identicalwith that of side 11; and that the manner of cementing one edge offlexible material 16 between glass 12 and U- shaped frame member 13 isalso identical. Likewise, the short side 21 of U-shaped frame member 13is secured to plate 18 of hinge 17 in the same manner as in side 11.There is a difference however in the manner in which the hingedconnection is made between front 10 and base 15. As seen in FIG. 10,there is provided a spacer 25 between plate 19 and base 15. This spacer25 is necessary to allow for the thickness of side 11 when side 11 is inthe down or collapsed position. It is shown in FIG. 10 that phantomsection B, when collapsed, sits astride phantom section A and it is toprovide the extra height,

equivalent to the thickness of side 11, that spacer 25 is provided. Asseen in FIG. 11, spacer 25 is as long as hinge 17. As with side 11,there are preferably at least two hinges 17 securing front 10 to base 15and obviously there is at least one spacer 25 under each such hinge 17.In the zone between the two hinges 17, there are provided additionalspacers 26 shown in FIG. 11. Spacers 26 are provided to give sturdinessto front 10 when it is in its upright position. Spacers 26 act in thecapacity of stops to prevent front 10 from being rotated past a positionperpendicular to base 15 and thus have the effect of sturdying andsteadying the entire assembly. Naturally, while spacers 25 are mainly toprovide height for front 10,'they also act as stops. As seen in FIG. 11,spacer 26 is higher than spacer 25 and in fact has a height equal to thecombined heights of spacer 25 and hinge 17; the spacers 25 and 26 arecemented to base 15 by mastic 14. In the case of spacers 26, the topsurface is not secured to any partof the front 10, but front 10 merelyrests on said top surface when front 10 is in the upright position.Spacers 25, on the other hand are secured to plate 19 of hinge 17 byscrew 22a which passes through plate 19 and spacer 25 and is threaded insteel plug 23. Screw 22a is longer than screw 22 to allow for thethickness of spacer 25. The other edge of flexible material 16 is notpassed under spacer 25 in the same manner as with side 11, but insteadis folded away from front 10 toward the inside of the aquarium and iscemented to base 15 by mastic 14. The spacers 25 and 26 may be made ofany material which can be cemented with mastic l4 and can, for example,be lucite, wood, a solid block of metal or a hollow extruded length ofmetal.

Since, in the collapsed position, sides 11 are lowermost or nearest thebase, and front 10 is next in order atop sides 11, the last side down isback 10 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. Obviously when sides 11 and front 10are collapsed, the construction of back 10 must be a modification offront 10 since there will now have to be compensated for not only thethickness of side 11 but also the thickness of front 10. Accordingly,for

back 10, the spacer 25 will be higher than u for from 10.13;"

fact, the spacer 25 for back 10 will have a height. equal to twice thatof spacer 25 for front 10; and correspondingly, spacer 26 for back 10will have a height equal to the combined height of spacer 25 for back 10and hinge 17. The construction of the hinge assembly and spacers forback 10 is not illustrated since it is exactly the same as shown inFIGS. 10 and 11 for fg'ont 10 except for the different height of thespacers 25 and 6.

In the embodiment shown, front 10 will always be collapsed before back10 and-conversely, back 10 will always open before front 10. The exactopposite configuration can be,

achieved by reversing front and back 10 and the respective spacers 25and 26. Thus, it will be understood that whenever used herein, frontandback are interchangeable terms, one long side being called front and theother back, for the sake of convenience only.

Until now, the construction of sides 11 and front and back 10 have beendescribed in detail and the manner of connecting same to base 15 hasbeen described. In accordance with said description, each of the foursides is hingedly secured to base 15 and in water-tight relationherewith.

There will now be described the construction of the watertightconnection between adjacent sides.

Until now reference has been made to U-shaped frame member 13, which iscemented to the lower edge of glass 12 with flexible material 16cemented therebetween for connection to base 15.

In the following portion of the description, when U shaped frame member13 is referred to, it will be understood that reference is specificallybeing made to the U-shaped frame member 13 which is cemented to the sideedges of glass 12 and when flexible material 30 is referred to,reference is being bad to the material which is used in eflecting thewater-tight seal between adjacent sides of the aquarium.

In FIG. 8, looking 'down into a corner of the aquarium, there are showna side 11 and the front (or back)10both-in the upright position at rightangles to one another. In FIG. 9, there I as described above, does notextend for the entire length of the said edge of glass 12. Thus, sincethis view does not show U-shaped frame member 13, the flexible material16 is folded upon itself with no space between the folds. Directly atopbase 15 in FIG. 9, thereis seen a portion of flexible material 16' whichseals front 10 to base 15.

The means by which the water-tight seal is effected between adjacentsides at the comers is shown generally in FIGS. 1-4. In these views,there is seen a conical piece of flexible material 30 having its apex atthe lower corner of the aquarium. The cone formed of said flexiblematerial is large enough so that when the sides are collapsed, there issufiicient material for all sides to lay flat on base 15. In FIG. 8,flexible cone 30 is shown forming a water-tight seal between adjacentsides. The U- shaped frame member 13 is cemented to the side edge (i.e.the edge running from the top to the bottom of the side) of side 11 bymastic 14. On the inner surface ofside 1 1, running from the top of theside and extending beyond the lower end of U- shaped frame member 13 andglass 12, one edge of a rectan-' gular sheet of flexible material, whichis to-be ultimately formed into cone 30, is cemented between glass 12and U- shaped frame member 13. The flexible material 30 is foldedmaterial 30 extends beyond the lower end of side 11 and obviously .theother edge of flexible material 30 extends beyond the lower edge offront (or back) 10. As seen in FIG. 9, this extra material 31 broughttogether at the apex of the cone and is folded, under the lower edge ofside 11 in the corner where it sits atop flexible material 16 whichsecures front to base and sits beneath flexible material 16 whichsecures side 11 to base 15. In this position, extra material 31 iscemented by mastic 14 and thus the corner of the aquarium is madecompletely water-tight. By forming cone 30 in the comer, it is notpossible for water to pass from the interior of the aquari- I um to theexterior at the junction of adjacent sides. Thus, the sides are inwater-tight relation with the base 15, the sides are in water-tightrelation with one another and the lower corner where adjacent sides andbase 15 come together are also in water-tight relation with one another.

In FIG. 12, which is a section through line 12-l2 of FIG. 9, the cornerconstruction is seen from a different aspect in order to further clarifysame.

In FIG. 13, the view is of a corner looking down from above. At thecorner, there is shown corner clip 50 which physically holds adjacentsides together. The details of corner clip 50 will be given below. Thereis seen in FIG. 13, a portion of cone 30 cemented between U-shaped framemember 13 and glass 12 and extending outward into the aquarium.

In FIG. 14, which is an elevation view through line 14-14 of. FIG. 13,there is seen cone 30, one edge of which is cemented between U-shapedframe member 13 and glass 12. There is also seen a portion of a comerclip 50 and a portion of the glass 12 of front (or back) 10.

When all four sides are in the upright position, it is necessa ry tosecure pairs of adjacent sides at the four corners. To accomplish this,there is provided corner clip 50 as shown in FIG. 1 in place at all fourcorners. FIG. 13 also shows comer clip 50 in detail above U-shaped framemember 13 (in Phantom) on the upright edges of side 11 and front 10.

FIG. 16 shows the complete comer clip 50 and FIG. 15 shows the layout ofa piece of metal which is to be cut along score mark 51 shown thereon.Along score marks 52, the metal is to be bent so as to form the finishedclip. When the metal piece is completely formed into comer clip 50, itis fitted over each of the four comers of the aquarium.

To collapse the aquarium for storage or shipping, the comer clips 50 areremoved and the aquarium is collapsed, according to the sequence shownin FIGS. 14.

What I claim is:

1. A collapsible aquarium comprising a base and four sides, each of saidfour sides being hingedly connected to the base in water-tight relationwith the base and with the two sides adjacent therewith, whereby thehingedly connected sides can be folded open, and when so opened, thefour sides define, together with the base, a rigid, shape-retainingwater-tight enclosure.

2. A collapsible aquarium comprising a base, four sides, connectingmeans for connecting each of said four sides to the base in movablerelation therewith, each of said four sides being movable with respectto the base between two extreme positions, the first of said extremepositions being parallel to the base and the second of said extremepositions being at right angles to the base, first water-tight sealmeans connecting each of said four sides to the base and secondwater-tight seal means connecting each of said four sides with the twosides adjacent therewith, whereby, when said sides are in the second ofsaid extreme positions, said sides define, together with the base, arigid, shape-retaining water-tight enclosure and when said sides aremoved into the first of said extreme positions, the aquarium iscollapsed.

3. An aquarium according to claim 2 wherein all four sides are of equalheight, and said four sides comprise'two pairs of sides having differentlengths, the longer pair of sides being at least twice the height ofthesides.

4. An aquarium according to claim 3 wherein the connecting meansconnectin each of the shorter sides to the base comprises at least onege having two plates, one plate being fixed to each of the sides and theother plate being fixed directly to the base; the connecting meansconnecting the longer sides to the base comprising at least one hingehaving two plates and a spacing means having a height equal to thethickness of the side; one plate being fixed to the longer side and theother plate being fixed to the spacing means which is fixed to the base;the connecting means connecting the other of the longer sides to thebase being the same except that the spacing means has a height equal totwice the thickness of the side.

5. An aquarium according to claim 4 wherein the first plate is connectedto the base by means of a screw passing through a hole provided in saidone plate.

6. An aquarium according to claim 4 wherein each of said sides comprisesa rectangular sheet of glass and a U-shaped frame member attached toeach edge of said sheet of glass, and cemented thereto, said other plateof the hinge being fixed to the U-shaped frame member attached to thelowennost edge of the sheet of glass.

7. An aquarium according to claim 6 wherein said other plate of thehinge is spot welded to the U-shaped frame member attached to thelowermost edge of the sheet of glass.

8. An aquarium according to claim 6 wherein the first water-tight sealmeans comprises, in the case of the shorter sides, a sheet of flexiblematerial having alength equal to the shorter side, one edge of saidsheet of flexible material being cemented for substantially its entirelength between the sheet of glass and the U-shaped frame memberassociated with the lowermost edge thereof and the other edge of saidsheet of flexible material being fixed between the base and the saidother plate of the hinge.

9. An aquarium according to claim 6 wherein the first water-tight sealmeans comprises, in the case of the longer sides, a sheet of flexiblematerial having a length equal to the longer side, one edge of saidsheet of flexible material being cemented for substantially its entirelength between the sheet of glass and the U-shaped frame memberassociated with the lowermost edge thereof and the other edge of saidsheet of flexible material being cemented to the base and the spacingmeans.

10. An aquarium according to claim 6 wherein the second water-tight sealmeans comprises a rectangular sheet of flexible material formed into acone joining adjacent sides of the aquarium said rectangular sheet offlexible material having a first edge cemented between the sheet ofglass and the U- shaped frame member which is attached to a side edge ofone side of the aquarium and a second edge cemented between the sheet ofglass and the U-shaped frame member attached to a side edge of the sideof the aquarium, adjacent said one side; and wherein the apex of thecone is folded under said one side.

11. An aquarium according to claim 2 comprising a base frame to whichthe base is cemented.

12. An aquarium according to claim 6 comprising means for clampingadjacent sides together in fixed position.

13. An aquarium according to claim 12 wherein the means for clampingcomprises a clip which fits over the U-shaped frame members of adjacentsides.

14. An aquarium according to claim 10 wherein the flexible material is aclear plastic material and further comprising a plurality of coloredpebbles in each of the cones.

15. An aquarium according to claim 9 comprising a clip for holding thecone to one of the two sides joined thereby.

16. An aquarium according to claim 1 wherein each of said four sides ishingedly connected to the base by means of at least one hinge secured tosaid side and said base.

fggg i' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No.3,658,035 Dated April 25, 1972 Inventor(s) JACK HARRIS It is certifiedthat error appears in the above-identified patent and that said LettersPatent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 1, line 31: "there have been solved several problems," shouldread "several problems have been solved, v; line 34: "an" should readthe Column 5, line 29: "of a corner" should read of corner Signed andsealed this 25th day of. July 1972.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. ROBERT GOTTSCHALK kttestfu'lg Officer-Commissioner of Patents h5g3 UNVITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OFCORRECTION Patent No. 3 658, 035 Dated April 25 1972 Inventor(s) JACKHARRIS It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patentand that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 1, line 31: "there have been solved several problems," shouldread several problems have been solved, line 34: "an" should read theColumn 5, line 29: "of a corner" should read of corner Signed and sealedthis 25th day of July 1972.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. ROBERT GOTTSCHALK Attesting Officer Commissionerof Patents

1. A collapsible aquarium comprising a base and four sides, each of saidfour sides being hingedly connected to the base in watertight relationwith the base and with the two sides adjacent therewith, whereby thehingedly connected sides can be folded open, and when so opened, thefour sIdes define, together with the base, a rigid, shape-retainingwater-tight enclosure.
 2. A collapsible aquarium comprising a base, foursides, connecting means for connecting each of said four sides to thebase in movable relation therewith, each of said four sides beingmovable with respect to the base between two extreme positions, thefirst of said extreme positions being parallel to the base and thesecond of said extreme positions being at right angles to the base,first water-tight seal means connecting each of said four sides to thebase and second water-tight seal means connecting each of said foursides with the two sides adjacent therewith, whereby, when said sidesare in the second of said extreme positions, said sides define, togetherwith the base, a rigid, shape-retaining water-tight enclosure and whensaid sides are moved into the first of said extreme positions, theaquarium is collapsed.
 3. An aquarium according to claim 2 wherein allfour sides are of equal height, and said four sides comprise two pairsof sides having different lengths, the longer pair of sides being atleast twice the height of the sides.
 4. An aquarium according to claim 3wherein the connecting means connecting each of the shorter sides to thebase comprises at least one hinge having two plates, one plate beingfixed to each of the sides and the other plate being fixed directly tothe base; the connecting means connecting the longer sides to the basecomprising at least one hinge having two plates and a spacing meanshaving a height equal to the thickness of the side; one plate beingfixed to the longer side and the other plate being fixed to the spacingmeans which is fixed to the base; the connecting means connecting theother of the longer sides to the base being the same except that thespacing means has a height equal to twice the thickness of the side. 5.An aquarium according to claim 4 wherein the first plate is connected tothe base by means of a screw passing through a hole provided in said oneplate.
 6. An aquarium according to claim 4 wherein each of said sidescomprises a rectangular sheet of glass and a U-shaped frame memberattached to each edge of said sheet of glass, and cemented thereto, saidother plate of the hinge being fixed to the U-shaped frame memberattached to the lowermost edge of the sheet of glass.
 7. An aquariumaccording to claim 6 wherein said other plate of the hinge is spotwelded to the U-shaped frame member attached to the lowermost edge ofthe sheet of glass.
 8. An aquarium according to claim 6 wherein thefirst water-tight seal means comprises, in the case of the shortersides, a sheet of flexible material having a length equal to the shorterside, one edge of said sheet of flexible material being cemented forsubstantially its entire length between the sheet of glass and theU-shaped frame member associated with the lowermost edge thereof and theother edge of said sheet of flexible material being fixed between thebase and the said other plate of the hinge.
 9. An aquarium according toclaim 6 wherein the first water-tight seal means comprises, in the caseof the longer sides, a sheet of flexible material having a length equalto the longer side, one edge of said sheet of flexible material beingcemented for substantially its entire length between the sheet of glassand the U-shaped frame member associated with the lowermost edge thereofand the other edge of said sheet of flexible material being cemented tothe base and the spacing means.
 10. An aquarium according to claim 6wherein the second water-tight seal means comprises a rectangular sheetof flexible material formed into a cone joining adjacent sides of theaquarium said rectangular sheet of flexible material having a first edgecemented between the sheet of glass and the U-shaped frame member whichis attached to a side edge of one side of the aquarium and a second edgecemented between the sheet of glass and the U-shaped frame memberattachEd to a side edge of the side of the aquarium, adjacent said oneside; and wherein the apex of the cone is folded under said one side.11. An aquarium according to claim 2 comprising a base frame to whichthe base is cemented.
 12. An aquarium according to claim 6 comprisingmeans for clamping adjacent sides together in fixed position.
 13. Anaquarium according to claim 12 wherein the means for clamping comprisesa clip which fits over the U-shaped frame members of adjacent sides. 14.An aquarium according to claim 10 wherein the flexible material is aclear plastic material and further comprising a plurality of coloredpebbles in each of the cones.
 15. An aquarium according to claim 9comprising a clip for holding the cone to one of the two sides joinedthereby.
 16. An aquarium according to claim 1 wherein each of said foursides is hingedly connected to the base by means of at least one hingesecured to said side and said base.